Never Really One for Parties
by kaitlynmarie1413
Summary: What happened every New Year's Eve from Lily and James' fourth year to seventh year, and how they got together.
1. Chapter 1

NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1974

"Oi! Evans!"

Lily Evans felt her stomach churn. Of all the people, _he _had to spot her? She was really hoping to come to the New Year's Eve party in the Great Hall in time for midnight, and then turn around and leave. She was by herself, so no one would have missed her. Sev had gone back to his house to spend the holiday with his mum, but Lily stayed behind. Unfortunately, there was no such luck of ducking out unseen now. James Potter had spotted her. She frantically searched for a place to hide, an older student to duck behind, or _something_, but there was nothing. She was stuck.

"Evans!" he said as he walked up to her. "Happy New Year! Aren't you excited to be here?"

"That's not exactly the adjective I would've used," Lily muttered.

"Well then, what _would_ you say to describe it?" Damn. He heard that? She thought she said it quietly enough.

"Er…well, I'd say it's rather…obnoxious."

"Obnoxious?" he asked, incredulous. "How so, pray tell?"

"Well, there's a lot of kids I don't even know here, even though some of them I recognize from Gryffindor. But other than that, I'm here all by myself, and I just barely managed to escape the upper years' corner. Apparently none of them can actually wait 'til midnight to get that kiss." Lily shuddered as she remembered the gruesome sight. It was horrendous, really.

James just laughed. "What do you mean you don't know anyone here? You know me! Aren't I company enough?" There was a sparkle of something in his eye as he said that, although she couldn't quite pick out what it was.

"Let me rephrase: I don't know anyone _that I like_ here."

"Oh." He looked dejected for a split second, but then perked up again. "Come on, Evans," he said. "Midnight's almost here. At least stay until then, and then you can leave. I'll even walk you back if you want." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the center of the Great Hall. The tables and benches had been done away with, and instead there were a few round tables with chairs set up by the edge of the floor. Everything else was open space that the remaining student body had decided to fill by standing around and chatting away.

Lily suddenly felt a little agoraphobic. All she wanted to do was get in and get out, and now this prat Potter had practically kidnapped her, so her plan was ruined. Why did she stay at Hogwarts for the holidays again?

As soon as they reached the middle of the floor, the countdown began.

"TEN!"

Lily looked at James. He seemed like he was having the time of his life. She was miserable. What else was new?

"NINE!"

She wanted to go back to her dorm.

"EIGHT!"

She missed her books. They didn't drag her into throngs of people she didn't even know.

"SEVEN!"

She was going to kill James Potter.

"SIX!"

She _really _missed her dorm.

"FIVE!"

She thought she vaguely heard James say something next to her, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"FOUR!"

Yep, she was going to kill him.

"THREE, TWO, ONE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The entire Great Hall shouted. Lily turned to tell Potter what exactly she thought of him kidnapping her and bringing her to the middle of the floor when she was met with his lips.

It wasn't nice. Not at all. It was awkward.

James realized what had happened a split second too late and pulled back. The look of horror on his face Lily was sure matched her own.

"E-Evans, I'm so sorry! I-I-I was going to kiss your cheek, y-you know, just as a friend thing, b-but then you turned, and oh Merlin I'm sorry!"

Lily was livid. That was the final straw. Lily Evans snapped.

"Merlin, Potter! You just don't get it, do you?! I never wanted to be here in the first place, and now you've not only dragged me into the _middle_ of the party, but somehow managed to k-k—" she struggled to even get the word out.

"K-kiss you?" Potter supplied.

"Yes! That!" she screeched as he winced. "How what would possess you to do something like that? Is this your idea of a good time? Or perhaps just your idea of a joke?"

"Evans, I already told you, it was an accident. I _tried_ to kiss your cheek, but you turned-"

"Why would you even try to kiss my cheek in the first place?" she interrupted. "We're not friends, Potter! Why can't you get that through your thick skull? We'll never be friends! And I don't like you, so please just sod off!"

The look on his face made Lily feel as though she had just kicked a puppy. But there was no taking it back. The damage had been done.

She quickly turned on her heel and stormed out. She could hear Potter calling her name somewhere in the distance, but she didn't turn around. She didn't even look back. She was never really one for parties anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1975

Lily Evans breathed out a heavy sigh of relief when she saw that there was no one up on the Astronomy tower. She just wanted to be away from people tonight, especially _him_.

She was trying to avoid Severus Snape at all costs. Since that day out by the lake when he had called her…_that word_…in front of half the school, she wanted nothing to do with him. Or Potter, for that matter. However, she knew she couldn't avoid Potter. He was in all the same classes as her. Although, just the same, she could very well ignore his bloody existence. Snape, on the other hand, well…it was just better to never actually see him.

She wasn't sure how long she was out there, but she was enjoying the solitude. She finally felt like she had room to think—about school, about her family, about her friends, and even about life in general. After pondering many of her rather deeply-buried insecurities about her life and coming close to the breaking point of an existential crisis, she resolved that she needed to calm down and only take things one day at a time. No sooner had she arrived at this conclusion when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind her. She tried to find a place to hide, or at least an escape route, but there was nothing. There was only the way she came up, and if she walked down now, she'd probably slam right into whoever was coming up.

Of all the people she expected to find her here (Sirius trying to fool around with some girl, one of her friends who had scoured the castle in search of her, or even Headmaster Dumbledore), James Potter was not among them. She was in for another surprise when he looked just as shocked to see her here, like he didn't expect it.

"Er…I…" He stumbled. Clearly, he _wasn't_ expecting to find her here.

"Potter," she greeted with only polite, albeit formal civility. She wasn't exactly in a mood to talk to him. The last time she'd even spoken a word to him was that fateful day out at the Black Lake. She cringed at the memory. She was frankly rather shocked at herself for even so much as attempting to be civil.

"Evans," he said as he smiled. Lily never knew what it was that he found so funny about her, but he always seemed to be smiling when she was around. Did she have something on her face? He was probably just plotting different ways of annoying the bloody hell out of her. "Mind if I join you?"

"What brings you out here tonight? Shouldn't you be at the party?" she asked bitterly. Surely Potter would rather be harassing younger years and joking with his Marauder friends than on the freezing Astronomy tower?

"I could ask the same things of you, but I think I already know the answer."

"To which question, pray tell?"

"Both. You're likely out here for the same reason I am; to get some air and to have room to think. You need peace of mind, and the only way you're going to get that is to be by yourself so you can actually think things over and get everything that's bothering you out of your head. And as for the second question," he said as he smirked, "you hate parties. I would know, considering I made the last party you went to a horrible disaster."

Lily blushed redder than a ripe tomato at his remark about their awkward kiss—if one could even call it that—at the New Year's banquet in the Great Hall last year.

"However," he continued, "I suspect that you probably won't be able to get much thinking done with me around, especially since I'm likely the cause of much of your distress. So, I will be on my way. Happy New Year, Evans."

"Happy New Year, Potter," she managed to mutter. She was shocked. He had her pinned from the start. How in the world did he know her so well, despite the fact that she hated him? "Thank you, I appreciate the space," she added before he walked away. He smiled and turned to leave. Lily turned around to face the dark almost-midnight-sky and gazed up at the stars.

"Wait," she heard from behind her. She turned back to him, to see that he hadn't moved from where he was a minute ago. "Evans, I just wanted to say…" He trailed off, unsure of himself, it seemed. "I just wanted to say that…I'm—I'm sorry."

"What?" What was he apologizing for this time? It could really have been a multitude of things.

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier this year out by the lake. I shouldn't have been messing with Sniv—I mean, with _Snape_, and I _definitely_ shouldn't have pressed the issue when you went to help him. I know that it's not really any consolation, but that kid was a prick for calling you such a name. Don't believe any of that."

Lily was stunned. She didn't know that Potter was capable of actually feeling sorry for something that he had done, although she wasn't about to complain. It was about time he fessed up to the wrongs that he'd committed.

"You don't have dirty blood," he went on. "There's nothing wrong with you. I don't care if you were born to muggle parents or pureblood parents or squib parents or even some parents in between. You're great the way you are, and I wish that Snape could've seen that. I'm also sorry for provoking you. I know that you're not a mean person, so it must've hurt to appear that way in front of so many people. I hope that one day you can forgive me." When he finished, he stood there, looking at her, waiting for her to say _something_.

"I-It's okay, Potter, really…"

"No, it's not. I should never have said and done those things."

"Potter, it's all in the past. Please don't worry about it. Thank you so much for saying those things, I appreciate them more than you know."

He nodded and smiled, and turned once more to go, but she stopped him. "Wait, Potter." He stopped and looked at her expectantly. "I also want to say I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? You have nothing to be sorry for," he said, confused.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you about the whole Giant Squid thing…" she mumbled, embarrassed.

He laughed loudly and heartily. "Why would you be sorry for that? You made my Wall of Fame!"

"Your what?"

"My Wall of Fame. Evans, you've insulted me so many times over the years that I couldn't even begin to imagine a number for all of them. But, in my dorm, there's a wall with all the best insults on it; just the ones that are my personal favorites."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely! That one just so happened to make it up there. I mean, 'I'd rather go on a date with the Giant Squid than ever go out with you'? That's gold! If anything, you should feel proud!" He laughed at the horrified look on her face.

"I'll remember that, Potter. Goodnight. Oh, and Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Evans." With that, he left down the stairs. Lily was once again alone, but this time, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Had she and James Potter just had a serious conversation without her blowing up at him? Who knew that was even possible?

Somewhere off in the distance she heard bells chime and a great ruckus erupt from the Great Hall. She rolled her eyes at the obnoxious yelling from many of the students, who were likely drunk, that were in there. She was glad she chose to come up to the Astronomy tower tonight. And besides, she was never really one for parties anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1976

Lily entered the Gryffindor Common Room just after eleven thirty. Glancing around the room, she saw many of the older students that had stayed behind for the holidays. Apparently, hardly any of the upper-year Gryffindors were attending the Great Hall banquet this year. She noticed the four Marauders all huddled in their own corner of the Common Room. Sirius and Remus were intently focused on their game of Wizards' chess—or at least Remus was. Sirius kept flicking his eyes toward something behind Lily. James and Peter were laughing about something—probably some prank they were discussing or plotting to torture some innocent first year.

"Lily!" Lily's head whipped around quickly to see her friends Alice and Marlene waving frantically for her to come join them. She walked over to greet the two girls, and Marlene exclaimed excitedly, "Happy New Year!"

"Marlene, don't you think you should wait a bit until you say that? After all, midnight is still…" Lily glanced down at her watch, "Twenty-two minutes away."

"I know, I know," Marlene continued, "but I'm just so excited! This is my first holiday at Hogwarts, and I want it to be great!"

"I'm sure it will be," Alice chimed in. "After all, you and Sirius Black over there haven't stopped making eyes at each other since you walked in. There's practically a puddle of drool at your feet as it is. I'm sure you'll get that New Year's kiss you're after." Marlene blushed bright red and hid her face in her hands, at which Alice and Lily laughed.

"Well what about you, Alice? I know that you and Frank Longbottom have been dancing around each other for _ages_," Lily teased. "Don't you think that there's a high possibility that _both_ of you will get that kiss at midnight?" She smirked as her blonde friend blushed as deeply as Marlene, and effectively shut her up.

"How about you, Lils? Is there any special guy you've got your eye on?" Marlene asked.

"Oh, come on, Mar. You know there isn't." At the look of doubt on Marlene's face, Lily added, "And if there was, I'd tell you both immediately. You two would be the first to know."

"Well, I can tell you right now, there's a rather attractive bloke over in that corner who's just _dying_ to get a kiss from you."

"Who?" Lily asked, confused as ever. She didn't mean…James, did she?

They were friends now. He hadn't asked her out in months, and it was great. She was finally able to enjoy her schooldays without needed to explode at James Potter for being a cocky prick. He'd changed.

Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't relentlessly and ridiculously pursuing her anymore, but she was grateful. They'd actually managed to have decent conversations since the beginning of the school year. They'd become friends. Not _great_ friends, but friends nonetheless. She didn't want to potentially jeopardize that or make things awkward by kissing him, even if it was just for fun, as Marlene and Alice seemed to think it would be.

"Oh, _come on_, Lil. I think you know exactly who I'm talking about," she said as she flicked her eyes over to the corner where the Marauders were sitting. Lily turned around, hoping that Alice was indicating towards some other guy, but all she was met with were the striking hazel eyes of James Potter. He was still sitting with his friends, but he had looked up momentarily, and she happened to catch his gaze. They kept their eyes locked on one another for a minute or so, until Peter dragged James back into their conversation.

When Lily turned around to face her friends once more, she was met with knowing glances from both girls. "What?" she asked indignantly.

They both smirked at her and Alice replied, "You and James practically just gazed longingly into one another's eyes for five minutes straight. We called you name close to ten times, but you were too…preoccupied to notice."

"E-excuse me?" Had she really been staring at him for that long? How had she no noticed the time lapse?

"You heard me," the blonde said. "Why don't you just own up to the fact that you two could actually have something there? What's the harm in going on just one date with him?"

"Wait, first you talk about a kiss at midnight just for fun, and now you're talking about a relationship with the guy?"

"I said 'just one date,' not a long-term relationship."

"It hardly makes a difference. I'm not going to go on a date with the kid."

"And why not? Merlin knows that everyone in Britain knows he's in love with you, and you're starting to like him, too. I can see it."

"Even if _any_ of that were true, which it isn't, he has not asked me out in months, and I'm really enjoying it. We're finally friends. He's changed, and I can carry on a civilized conversation with him without wanting to either rip my hair out or claw out his eyes. I'm not going to risk our friendship for a relationship that won't even get anywhere."

"Not with that attitude, it won't."

"Alice," Lily warned. She was getting sick of all this Lily-and-James crap. It was never going to happen. "Please just let this one go. I don't want to talk about it anymore, considering the fact that you're not even listening to me." When Alice tried to protest, Lily cut her off. "I'm serious."

"No, you're Evans. I'm Sirius," a familiar voice said with a smug drawl.

"Hello, Black," Lily said without even turning around.

"Evening Evans. Alice. Marlene." The way he said the last girl's name made the girl in question blush once more. _Wow_, Lily thought. _She really has it bad for him_.

"Evening everyone," Alice said with a smile. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she excused herself from the table. Lily turned to see what it was that had Alice roped in, but then she saw Frank Longbottom. _Figures_, she thought.

She checked her watch. It was about ten minute 'til midnight. This could get pretty awkward pretty fast if she stayed in the vicinity of all the couples in the room, as many of them were starting to flock around the table that she and her friends had occupied only minutes before. She maneuvered her way to one of the armchairs across from the fireplace. She sat down and closed her eyes, enjoying the peace.

However, as soon as her eyelids shut, someone tapped her shoulder. She looked up, only to be met with the spectacled face of one James Potter. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Go ahead," she said, and indicated to the chair across from her, which he sat in.

"Thanks. How's the evening so far?"

"Pretty good. Alice and I got into a bit of a spat right when Sirius walked up, but I think she's probably forgotten it by now."

"What makes you say that?"

"As soon as you lot walked up, she caught Frank Longbottom's eye from across the room."

"Ah, I see. What did you two fight about? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"I don't mind," she said with a light smile. "I won't go into any great details, but she thinks that I should kiss one of my friends at midnight tonight."

He tensed up. _What's wrong?_ Lily thought."Why would she want you to do that?"

"Part of it is that she doesn't want me to be alone, since both she and Marlene are bound to be kissed. But part of it is that she thinks that this guy really likes me and that I'm starting to like him."

"Is she right?" He was avoiding eye contact with her. Why?

"On which count?"

This time, he looked directly at her and held her gaze. Lily's breath hitched slightly in her throat. "Both," he said with finality.

"Well," she gulped, "I know that he used to like me, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't anymore. And besides, we've only recently become friends, and I don't want to jeopardize anything." _Damn,_ she thought. _Could I have made that _any _more obvious? He's bound to find out we were talking about him!_

"Oh." He averted his gaze again. Why was he avoiding her? They'd stared at each other for a full five minutes earlier, and now he was looking at literally _everything else_ in the room. They sat like that for a few minutes, not really moving, and definitely not speaking. Lily kept looking at James, and James kept looking at everything but Lily.

Somewhere in the Common Room, the countdown started. Was it really almost midnight already?

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT…"

The sound of the countdown was drowned out as Lily focused intently on James. What was up with him? Why was he acting this way?

"…SEVEN, SIX, FIVE…"

Suddenly, James looked up at her and their eyes locked once more. He just stared at her.

"…FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE…"

They both stood up at the same time. Alice's voice ran through her head as she debated whether or not kissing him—even if it was all meant in fun—would really be worth the consequences.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the Common Room collectively screamed. Lily stood up on her tiptoes in order to be the same height as James, leaned in, and planted a tender kiss on his cheek.

When they both realized what she had done, they each blushed rather heavily. Lily was positive that her face matched the color of her hair, and she was mortified. Thank Merlin she didn't kiss the boy on the lips.

"Happy New Year, James." Her use of his first name shocked them both.

"Happy New Year to you too, Lily." She blushed even redder, if that was possible. She didn't know what to do. She was at a loss for words.

She walked past him, headed for the stairs. She didn't get very far, however, when she felt a warm, strong hand wrap around her forearm. The force of it spun her around, and before she could give it a second thought, she came chest to chest—and face to face—with James. She couldn't help but blush even more. What was happening?

James looked like he was going to say something, but then though better of it. He let her go, and she stumbled back, like she'd been hit with a stunning spell. Lily quickly turned on her heel and fled to her dorm room.

When she got there, she exhaled loudly, relieved that she was alone. She flopped down on her bed and thought of what had just happened. What was he thinking? Why did he affect her like that? Was Alice right—did she feel something more for this boy than just innocent friendship? Her mind strayed to the kiss. What would James think of her actions? What would her friends think? What would his friends think? She resolved that she would never again make a fool of herself like that over a boy. Maybe it was James Potter that made her crazy, or maybe it was the party. It was probably the latter of the two, since she was never really one for parties anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

NEW YEARS' EVE, 1977

Lily had been in the Great Hall since the party started, which was roughly—she checked her watch for the millionth time that night—two hours and thirty-four minutes ago. Since she was Head Girl, she and the Head Boy were responsible for setting up any and all festival decorations for the New Year in the Great Hall, and, although it wasn't required, the two were expected to stay throughout the entire thing. However, she wasn't feeling well, which was because of several different factors.

For one, she didn't really like parties. She didn't see the point. She much preferred to curl up somewhere with a good book—she didn't see the need for massive amounts of people crammed into one place all at one time so that no one could breathe.

The second thing was her dress. She'd bought it months ago at a store back home with her parents, and she loved it. It was a bright, royal purple, and she thought it very becoming. Her mother, when the dress was purchased, told Lily that it was going to be a "guy magnet," Unfortunately, it also seemed to be a drink magnet. She'd had to use a cleaning and drying spell on the bloody thing at least ten times by now. It seemed that whenever she would clean up one stain, another one would appear only minutes later.

The third thing was the fact that a seventh-year Hufflepuff named Nancy Smith was practically clinging to James Potter. Although the two of them had been alone when they decorated the Great Hall, the blonde little twit had seemingly materialized out of thin air and stuck to James throughout the entire party. As if that wasn't bad enough, the bloody prick rather seemed to be enjoying himself, and it aggravated Lily to no end.

Lily felt a red flag go up in her brain. She shouldn't be thinking that way about James Potter, should she? However, in the back of her mind, she knew that she had only worn this dress tonight in the hopes of attracting his eye. Unfortunately, the only things it seemed to be attracting tonight were drink stains, lewd comments, and lascivious looks from the drunk and disgusting upper years. At this point, Lily Evans had had enough.

She quickly scanned the room for Alice and Marlene, who weren't hard to spot since they were with Sirius, Frank, and—Merlin forbid it—James. They were on the complete opposite corner from the punch bowl, where she currently stood. _Probably not the greatest idea, in hindsight_, she mused.She fought her way through the throng of people to the table they were all sitting at. She had to fight hard not to lose her dinner as she saw Nancy still hanging on James. She also had to fight hard with herself not to openly stare with disgust at the two of them. Although they weren't doing anything, Nancy's low-cut high-hemmed dress was enough to make her sick.

She made eye contact with her two best friends and made a motion for them to follow her. They did so immediately. When she had them out of earshot of the table, she asked, with some hesitation, "I hate to ask this of the two of you, but do you think that one or both of you could cover the cleanup duty after the party? I'm not feeling all that well, and I really think I need to go to bed." She saw the sympathy flood both girls' eyes as they saw her misery/

Marlene spoke up first. "Of course, Lil. I've got your back. Sirius and I were going to hang out afterwards, but I'm sure he'll wait up."

"If he knows what's good for him, he will," Alice said with a smile. Then she turned back to Lily and said, "Are you okay Lil? What's going on?"

"I'm just not feeling all that great," Lily said evasively. The less these two knew, the better. Lily had told them earlier in the year about her crush on James, but they didn't know just how much she cared for him.

"Okay, well I want you to rest up as soon as you get back to your room, alright? I'm going to go tell Sirius. Feel better, Lil, yeah?"

"I'll do my best," she said with a smile as she hugged Marlene. The girl turned and went back to the table, just leaving Alice and Lily together. "Can I help you?" Lily asked. Why hadn't she gone back with Marlene?

"Lily Evans, I know you, and I know for a fact that this has nothing to do with the fact that you 'don't feel well,' but with the fact that you can't stand to see James Potter with some slut on his arm. Everyone in Hogwarts knows that she's only spending time with James to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. She doesn't feel anything for him and we all know it."

Lily was blindsided. Where the bloody hell had that come from? "E-excuse me?"

"You heard me perfectly."

"Alice, I don't have the energy for this tonight. You and I fought about this last New Years' Eve, too! There is _nothing_ going on between me and James," Lily enunciated, even though it hurt to admit. She tried to ignore the last part about Nancy. She didn't want to give herself any false hopes.

"But you want there to be," Alice stated, her tone implying that there was no room for any argument.

"Alice, I'm not going to fight with you about this. Talk to me tomorrow when I'm not exhausted, yeah?"

"Fine. This conversation is not over, Lily Evans."

"Yes, mother," Lily called over her shoulder as she walked out of the Great Hall and towards her shared dorm with James. Since he was the Head Boy, they shared a Common Room together, but they each had their own bedroom and bathroom. The arrangement actually worked out quite nicely, since they had been friends this year, and weren't constantly at each other's throats like when they were younger.

When she made it to her dorm, she plopped on the large sofa facing the warmly lit fireplace. She checked her watch once more—it was twelve minutes 'til midnight. She decided to stay and relax on the couch for a bit. It would be a while until James got back anyway, since he was probably going to spend time with his friends afterward. Not even five minutes of her blissful silence had gone by when she heard the door to the Common Room open and close. She sat up and turned to see James come around the edge of the couch and sit down on the end opposite her. She could see concern etched into the lines of his face, and she asked him what he was doing here.

"I came to check on you," he said, as though the answer should have been obvious.

"Er…why?" she asked, still confused.

"Because Marlene and Alice said that you weren't feeling well, and I wanted to make sure than you were alright."

"Well, I'm fine, so you can head back to the party now." She didn't know what was making her be so curt, but she really didn't want to deal with anybody tonight. _Especially James_, she thought as the memory of last year's party flooded her mind and she blushed slightly as she recalled the incident.

"Good, then you can come with me, since you're feeling fine now."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"James, I'm not feeling well. I was feeling a bit better than when I left the party, but now I'm starting to feel sick again," she said as she glared at him. She was in no mood to put up with him and his antics tonight.

"Well then, do you mind the company? Being with you certainly beats what was awaiting me back there," he said with a shudder. What was he talking about?

"Not so long as you're good and quiet. I have a headache, and I don't want to have to listen to a lot of noise right now."

"Fair enough."

To his credit, James remained quiet for a good long while. He only spoke up to say softly, "It's a minute until midnight."

"Is it really that late already?" Lily said as she stood up from the sofa. She walked over to the window in their Common Room and looked outside. "You know," she said over her shoulder, "If you made a run for it, you could still make it to the Great Hall on time to get that New Year's kiss." She instantly felt her face heat up. Had she really just said that?

"From whom, pray tell? It's not like anyone is beating down to door to snog me, so why should I go back?"

"Oh, er…" Lily's mind scrambled. "I didn't mean anyone in particular, I just meant in general. Isn't there a girl that you'd like to…"

"You're a terrible liar, Lily Evans, even if I can't see your face."

"I beg your pardon?" she said indignantly as she turned to face him. He was standing just a few feet from her. She hadn't even heard him move from his spot on the couch.

"Don't play stupid, Lily. It's not attractive on you." She was baffled. Did he really just say that to her? "You and I both know that you meant Nancy Smith, who doesn't even attract me in the slightest." Lily's jaw hung open for a second. Was he serious? If so, then why did he let her hang all over him like that? "Alice told me what you two talked about once Marlene left," he added. She made a mental note to kill Alice in the morning.

He stepped closer to her as he continued, "And moreover, I think you and I both know that there is only one girl that I really want to kiss." Did he mean _her_? Her face flushed at the very thought.She noticed him take a step closer to her, and somewhere in the distance she heard the start-off of the countdown.

"Tell me to leave, Lily," he took one more step toward her. They were chest to chest now, and she was almost backed up all the way against the wall. There was no escaping this. Lily knew then that this was make-it-or-break-it time.

"No, stay," she whispered. She reached down to grab his hand and interlaced their fingers together.

Just as she heard a loud chorus of cheering erupt from somewhere in the castle was the moment that James planted his lips on hers. It took Lily a few seconds to register what exactly was happening, but when she did, she responded to the kiss with such alacrity that she almost caused the two of them to fall over. Her hands—of their own accord, it seemed—went to the back of his neck just as his arms locked around her waist in a tight embrace. Her mind was spinning. She could hardly believe this was actually happening. She was _kissing James Potter_.

When they finally broke apart to breathe, he whispered, "Lily…"

"Hmm?" she responded, as her eyes opened slightly. His lips were red and slightly swollen, at which she felt a bit of pride. He leaned in to her ear, like he was telling a secret.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered in her ear. As he pulled his head back to look at her, he planted feather-light kisses along her cheek. Her heart swelled.

"James?" she said, unable to take it anymore.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Yes ma'am," he replied as he smirked and complied. This kiss was much more passionate than the first. He pushed her back completely against the wall and kissed her quite thoroughly. She became totally lost in the feel of his soft, warm lips on hers.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Lily was glad that she left the party early and made a mental note to thank Alice in the morning for sending James after her. Besides, she was never really one for parties anyway.


End file.
